FKWar 14
"The Unexpected Party" was the fourteenth of the FK Wars. It ran from Sunday January 13, 2013 through Monday January 28, 2013. War Mistress Remains anonymous. Archives * archived on the FKWarArchive Yahoo!Group Premise Early in December, flyers begin to show up in the hometowns of Forever Knight fans. On the flyers are three runic symbols. Some days later, the same three symbols that were on the flyers appear carved in the snow outside CERK, laid out in flagstones outside Vachon's church, and spray painted on the water tower above Nick's loft. On coming to Toronto, fans in the different factions quickly learn that several of the characters received odd Christmas presents. Natalie, Tracy, and Schanke had each received a wooden gift box containing a bottle of "private reserve" wine from Point Pelee Estates; and Nick, LaCroix, Janette, and Vachon had each received a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Hobbit. There is a mystery afoot. Can the fans figure it out before it's too late? Rules No specific rules were posted for War 14, barring a description of the puzzle to be solved. Factions Involved The factions officially playing in War 14 were the Cousins, Mercenaries, Nick & Nat Pack, Die-Hards, Knighties, Vaqueras, Ravenettes, Perks, and RatPackers. There was also one independent player. *'Cousins:' **'Leaders:' Cousin Tok, Arletta Asbury, Cousin Shelley **'Players:' McLisa, Marci, MB, Brandi, Rhonda **'Vamp Kitties:' Gandalf, Merlin, Tirian, Toshi, Duncan, Zorro **'Mortal Cousinly kitties:' Willow, Frodo, Rambo **'and sundry (OCs):' Tammy the receptionist, Alex the chef. *'Die-Hards:' **'Players:' Don Fasig, Greer Watson, Ron the Enforcer *'Knighties:' ** Leaders: Brooksie, Nancy Taylor (NAT) ** Members: Katrinka, Lisa, Vickie, Eowyn, Gemsong, Min, Debbi *'Mercenary Guild:' ** Leaders: Mildred Cady ** Members: 'Laura (Shadowstar), Kat, Sara, Liz, Bast * 'Nick&NatPack: ** Leaders: Susan Bennett **'Members:' Karen (Nitenurse), Kelly *'RatPack:' **'Member:' Libby Smith *'Ravenettes' **'Member:' Alexander Braun *'Vaqueros': ** Leaders: Tabs (VaqMadre) **'Members:' Doña Angel, Tricia, Marilyn (VaqShaman), Melissa, Naia Zifu, Teri *'Perks': **'Members:' Anne Jensen *'Independent': ** Bonnie Pardoe Management of Characters There were no rules regarding the management of characters: factions were free to write them as they chose. As usual, though, the Knighties wrote about Nick, the Cousins about LaCroix, the NNP about Natalie, the Ravenettes about Janette, and the Vaqueras about Vachon (as well as mentioning Urs and the Inca in at least one post). Some factions either didn't play or made few posts; and it should be noted that Schanke, Tracy, Screed, and Feliks Twist were all employed by various factions. Calendar of War Events This calendar lists major events officially scheduled during the War. * January 13 - FK fans begin arriving in Toronto. * January 20 '''- the Knighties hold a potluck dinner to which the other factions are invited * '''January 23-24 - small white envelopes containing the final riddles are delivered to each of the factions * January 26 - a party is thrown honouring the De Brabant Foundation's 70th Anniversary Resources During the War The War Mistress did not prepare a website to serve as a hub and archive. Instead, she established a Twitter account, and employed the wiki article on War 14—particularly a section entitled "Highlights"—as a place for players to go to see the progress of war. (Since this use left the article less than encyclopedic in nature, it has now been renamed "FKWar 14 - War Mistress's Updates", and the present article created.) * @FKWM14 * FKWar 14 - War Mistress's Updates Twitter Page To decorate the Twitter page, the War Mistress selected a large image of the map in The Hobbit to serve as the background graphic. Although only seven people actually subscribed to the Twitter account during the war, there were others who did check it at least occasionally. The War Mistress updated it fairly frequently. Wiki "Highlights" Page Daily throughout the war, the War Mistress added to the "Highlights" and "Quotes" sections of the wiki article as posts were made. As the war progressed, earlier entries were often modified; so the revision history of the article records numerous versions, especially for the "Highlights" section. (To see this, click on the "History" tab at the top of the page.) Synopsis :A list of all war posts can be found in the article FKWar 14: List of War Posts. Prelude to War Before the war proper begins, Janette comes to the CERK building, where she finds LaCroix reading the copy of The Hobbit that he (like she) had mysteriously received as a Christmas present. She informs him that someone has carved three shapes into the snow outside; and they both infer from these strange events that War must be in the offing. At much the same time, Tracy visits Vachon's church, sure that he is the one who sent her an unexpected bottle of Point Pelee wine for Christmas, though he denies it. Vachon shows her a flyer that he had picked up in Chicago, on which are three runes; and Screed recognizes these as the shapes in which flagstones have been laid out in the church parking lot. One of the shapes resembles a diamond; and Screed promptly decides that it might mean that diamonds are to be found, and starts to dig a large hole to look for them. Meanwhile, Natalie (who has also received wine) and Nick (who has also received The Hobbit) discover runes painted on the water tower at the loft. Sunday to Tuesday (13-15 January) The first couple of days of war are primarily taken up with players' journeys to Toronto. What is perhaps most notable is the relatively small number of people who choose to come: there are only a handful of Die-Hards, NNPackers, and Mercs, rattling round in their respective HQs; only one Ravenette; and no members of the DP/Perks or UF, both factions that had been active in the recent past. (In the end, one of the former does take a small part in the war, but from afar.) All players are summoned by the receipt of one or more flyers marked with three large runes; and the Knighties, Cousins, and Vaqueras learn of the runic graffiti at the loft, CERK, and church on their arrival. Realizing that these are the key to the War, many players set to work trying to decipher them. Although identifying the runes themselves (teiwaz, dagaz, and inguz) is straightforward, the multitude of possible interpretations is daunting. Each faction comes up with different possible meanings, none of which gets them further forward solving the puzzle. However, some players do drive around Toronto looking at the homes and businesses of other characters and factions: they discover runes in a number of places associated with additional characters. Only on Tuesday do the NNP discover a second clue, when Natalie comes round to the theatre and tells them about the copy of The Hobbit that Nick received for Christmas, and her own bottle of wine. When they examine the bottle, they see its label: ::Point Pelee Estates Private Reserve 1992 Pinot Noir lot # 0126-2100 A finite number of these ever existed. Fewer still remain today. Merry Christmas to all And to all a good knight. Ludum Geratur Puzzled over the identity of "Ludum Geratur", they nevertheless decide that this must encode a clue. Faction Business Meanwhile, some of the factions have their own internal matters to deal with. Vaqueras: One of the Vaqueras, Teri, has primarily come to Toronto to honour the memory of her horse, Sizzlin', who had been part of three earlier wars but recently died. The others join her in a ceremony in which his bridle is hung up in the church. After that, Teri decides to stay on for the war. Cousins: The Cousins have to cope with a new receptionist, Tammy, whose poor hearing mangles everything they say to her. Meanwhile, one player, MB, is brought to Toronto through a mysterious black disc that floats through his kitchen ("The edge of the object bumped into him and SWOOSH he found himself falling into a long dark tunnel. An unknown amount of time later, he blinked at the bright sunlight and found himself sitting on the floor of a large reception area ....") and deposits him at CERK. Having no idea where the black disc has taken him, he proceeds to make himself useful in the kitchen—except that, every so often over the next few days, another disc appears and temporarily takes him home. Independent: The Independent player, being unaffiliated with any of the factions, has no place to stay in Toronto. She wanders the streets, getting riper and riper, since she also lacks access to a shower. Wednesday to Thursday (16-17 January) Although other factions may know about the gifts, they do not, as yet, know what particular significance they may have. As a result, frustration grows; and members fill in the time as best they may—cleaning their HQs, encountering FK characters, shopping, listening to music, and driving round town. However, on Wednesday, the NNP discover that Schanke also got a bottle of wine for Christmas. Though they are having trouble figuring out the meaning of the label on the bottles, they suspect that the poem refers to the dwindling number of fans. One of the Die-Hards decides to find out whether, in the absence of Perks, Tracy is willing to talk to someone from a neutral faction. She produces her own gift bottle of wine; and they figure out that the label may encode a date and time: January 26, 9 p.m. Though the Die-Hards recognize "Ludum Geratur" to be Latin for "The game's afoot" (and hence a reference to the War), like the NNP, they also interpret the poem on the label to refer to the decline of FK fandom. Paranoia is starting to develop in other factions, too: in the words of the Knightie leader, Brooksie, "This is the swan song of Wars and we are all to meet at the Pelee Winery Pavilion at the end of the War, get drunk, and then go home. Period. End of story. End of Forever Knight." However, unbeknownst to them, the plot is thickening. The one Independent in the War, Bonnie, runs into a mysterious (but polite) man on the street who hands her a CD. This proves to be a collection of cover songs played by a local band named Smoke & Fog. Then she spots a poster for an upcoming concert of theirs: ::Smoke & Fog live @ Instagramme Saturday 20 January 9:00pm *Plus 1 with this flyer* She immediately recognizes "Instagramme" as the name of a new club that has taken over the building that had once housed Paparazzi. Some of the other factions also play the CD, or spot the Smoke & Fog flyer; and Vachon suggests the Vaqueras go to the concert. However, most of the fans see Smoke & Fog simply as entertainment. Only a few suspect that they are a clue. In the meantime, therefore, bored with the slow progress of War, the Vaqueras decide to spice things up by creating a fake flyer of their own. "A couple hundred copies were made on various bright shades of paper, which were then mailed to the various faction headquarters, placed under other factions' members' windshield wipers, given along with bribes to pizza delivery guys, and just generally placed around town for other factions' members to happen upon." (In the subsequent posts made by other factions, the number of flyers grows exponentially until it seems that the whole of Toronto has been paper-bombed.) When the other factions get the new flyers, there is much initial excitement at the new clue. Most factions spend time trying to solve the runes. However, some do figure out that it's a fake, and that the Vaqueras are behind it. The Cousins promptly decide to retaliate. They have their new chef, Alex, make pizzas full of hidden nasty ingredients and rig-up a bottle of Diet Coke so that it will explode when opened. These are delivered to the church. Not only do the Vaqs have a mess to clear up, Teri is injured. However, they are relieved to recall the rule that Wars leave no permanent damage. Friday to Sunday (18-20 January) Hoping to discover more clues, the Cousins decide to inspect the copy of The Hobbit that LaCroix had received at Christmas. Finding part of a wine label, they consult the one Ravenette playing in the War, who looks in Janette's copy of The Hobbit, where he also finds a piece of paper. After checking the Point Pelee wine in the Raven's cellar, they decide that this all requires further investigation. In particular, there seem to be lot numbers missing; and they decide to order sample bottles from each of these lots, to be sent directly by Point Pelee Estates to CERK on LaCroix's credit card account. The Nick and NatPack, on the other hand, are stymied by the individual clues; but, taking them all together, they conclude that they point to a cure for vampirism. They promptly inform the Knighties, who are intrigued by the notion. Deciding that cooperation is the only chance that the fans have to solve the clues, they send out invitations to all the factions to come to a potluck dinner at the loft on Sunday, "so that we can all compare notes on the runes and flyers appearing around Toronto". More clues are starting to appear. The Knighties come across a flyer for a store named Inflated Ego that sells party supplies: ::Inflated Ego Balloons & Party Supplies ***Sale On Now*** 50% off select items 75% off balloons (Sale ends January 26) The NNP also find a coupon, this one for a Chinese restaurant: ::Buy one get 111 free Chinese food at Buried Treasure Restaurant in Toronto, good only on Saturday, January 26th between 6:05 and 11:23 p.m. Some other factions also find these coupons and flyers. All spot that they mention the same date as the Point Pelee wine label: clearly these are all clues. In the short run, though, the Inflatable Ego flyer simply aids the Knighties in decorating the loft for the upcoming party. The Die-Hards discuss the clues they have, and conclude that it is possible that there is information not only on the wine labels but also on the gift boxes the bottles came in. Sunday morning, therefore, they contact Tracy to see if she still has her box. However, she had enjoyed a big family Christmas at her grandparents and left the box there. For all the factions, much of Sunday is taken up by potluck preparations for the Knighties' party, which is well attended, and includes a food fight. After that, though, they all get down to the serious business of sharing clues. The various runes are discussed; the Smoke & Fog CD is played and their concert poster analysed; the Knighties share the Inflatable Ego flyer; the NNP share the coupon for Chinese food; and all agree on the significance of the wine label. Also, all the factions receive the news that the second lot of flyers had actually come from the Vaqueras. As the Knighties conclude afterwards, the party was a success. ("Well, I believe we leveled the playing field a bit. Not that that really matters in a War.") The Vaqueras return to the church to discover that, in their absence, they have been attacked again. This time, someone has hired a Merc to bomb the place with confetti. It takes them forever to clean it all up, especially since some of it is sticky. To the end of the War they are still finding bits of confetti in odd places. They end with bags of the stuff, but no certainty who had hired the Merc to attack them. Monday (21 January) On Sunday night, a mysterious client hires the Mercs to attack the Knighties. (Quietly, they "bricked" up every entrance and exit, including the windows, the roof exit, and the skylights. The sponge bricks were not only glued to each other, but the bottom row was glued down and the edges were glued to the walls of the building.) When Nick gets home from work early Monday morning, he finds that the only way he can enter the loft is through a secret entrance that only he knows about. The Knighties are all still asleep; and he heads for bed, leaving them to recover from the party. The NNP decide to have wine and cheese for lunch, opening the bottle of Point Pelee wine that Natalie had given them. As they clear up afterwards, they realize that something has been carved on the back panel of the inside of the gift box that the wine had come in. Smashing it open, they stain the wood with the last of the wine to bring up the marks, and find a series of numbers: 06 05 11 12 31 12 15 21 09. However, when they decide to tell the Knighties, they accidentally inform the whole list. As a result, when Tracy tells the Die-Hards that she has got back her own gift box from her grandfather, they know to inspect the interior. A different number is found on the bottom panel, 11 18 27 17 03 21 10 27 09; and Tracy takes the box off to the lab to check whether there are numbers on the other sides as well. Meanwhile, the Knighties wake up to find themselves imprisoned in the loft. Patiently they take all the fake bricks down, and decide to save them—just in case. Faction Business Cousins: MB finally finds time to leave the kitchen and explore the mysterious building to which the black discs have been transporting him. To their mutual surprise, he runs into Arletta, who tells him that he's in Toronto. She identifies the black discs as plot holes just as one swallows up MB and whisks him home again. Perks: The leader of the Perks finally gets around to checking her phone messages and learns that there's a war on. Although she can't make it to Toronto, she decides to send gifts: coffee, brownies, and smiley stickers. These are FedExed to the DP Mansion with instructions to Mrs Hitchcock, their housekeeper, to deliver an appropriately-sized box of them to each of the factions. Tuesday (22 January) On Tuesday, Alex (the lone Ravenette) checks out Janette's copy of The Hobbit for clues, and discovers that it is missing a number of pages. He sends Alma to CERK with a message for the Cousins. The crate of wine ordered by the Cousins has arrived at CERK. However, as they are about to examine it, they are sidetracked by Alex's message. When they check LaCroix's copy of The Hobbit, they discover that—although most of the missing pages are the same as in Janette's copy—there are some differences: clearly this is significant. As well, they find that one page has the word "where" circled lightly in pencil. They realize that the copies received by Nick and Vachon will also have to be checked—but how? Finally, they decide to send an open letter to all the factions giving everyone the page numbers from both LaCroix's and Janette's copies, and asking for cross-faction coordination so that the problem can be solved. Alex therefore co-ordinates with the Knighties, who have Nick's copy of The Hobbit. They discover that it is not missing all the same pages as the other copies. As well, it has the word "children" circled. Other factions also mull over the new clues; but, lacking one of the gift copies of The Hobbit, they are limited in what they can do. Wednesday (23 January) On Wednesday, Bonnie (the Independent) decides to visit Schanke to see if he has kept his gift box. As it turns out, after visiting the NNP, he has got interested in the puzzle. As a result, he has already investigated the card that came with the wine and found a message in invisible ink: "Nine o'clock, it's a date. Bring something. Don't be late." However, neither of them can figure out what it means. Schanke has also inspected his gift box, and discovered a whole series of numbers: :::17 03 21 11 18 27 07 85 15 - front sliding panel 06 05 11 12 31 12 15 21 09 - back 11 18 27 17 03 21 10 27 09 - bottom 17 03 21 05 01 22 08 11 23 - top 06 05 11 17 03 21 10 27 09 - left side 11 18 27 10 27 09 16 04 20 - right side They conclude that it is probably a cipher, with The Hobbit as the key. Bonnie accesses an on-line version of the book, discovering that each group of three numbers represents chapter, paragraph, and word: the words, in each instance, turn out to be a number. Each series of nine numbers thus turns into a series of three numbers. The first three numbers that she decodes ("twenty", "one", and "nine") match the ones on the flyer for the Smoke & Fog concert at Instagramme (20 January 9:00pm). Bonnie promptly heads over to the club. Hidden behind a bulletin board, she discovers a manila envelope containing a number of small white envelopes, one addressed to each of the factions playing in the war. She duly makes the rounds of all the headquarters, making deliveries. (Unbeknownst to Bonnie, she is spotted going into Instagramme by Libratsie, who is highly curious and therefore shadows her through all her deliveries.) Thursday to Friday (24-25 January) Working on the ciphers, various factions follow Bonnie's lead in solving the six series of numbers from the wine box. As they are working independently (and only some of the results are immediately shared), it is Saturday before all the solutions are available to everyone. The solutions are: The factions do not all notice their envelopes immediately. However, each faction, when the envelope is finally opened, finds inside a piece of paper with a riddle in the form of a two-stanza poem. Saturday (26 January) Although the fans still have no idea what is supposed to be happening at the party, the factions eventually decide that they will go along with their instructions. Where the party is being held perplexes some of them well into the day. However, when the celebrations begin, wine has duly been provided by the Cousins, Chinese food by the Vaqueras, and party decorations by the NNP and Mercs, while the Ravenettes bring the Perks' extra brownies. If the Die-Hards turn out not to be able to book the specified band, Smoke & Fog, they do at least come up with an alternative. Only the Mercs decide to play tricks, not only substituting blondies for brownies, but spiking them with hot peppers and laxatives in rebellion at being ordered to bring something to the party...for free. When they all arrive, they discover that they are attending a 70th anniversary celebration honouring the De Brabant Foundation—organized by Feliks Twist, compèred by Captain Cohen, and attended by many of the characters and a crowd of dignitaries, as well as the fans. The "bricks" that the Knighties have been told to bring turn out to be party favours. ("Oh, I get it - bricks, foundation - that's clever. Yes, very amusing.") After Cohen's speech, the party begins. Mind you, some fans are still puzzled. While this all satisfactorily accounts for the riddles on the wine boxes, coupons, labels, and flyers, how do the runes fit in? However, all is revealed when Screed returns to the hole that he had dug in the carpark at Vachon's church, investigates further, and finds a chamber containing a treasure hoard. Just as it all starts to cave in, he escapes with a huge gem (rather resembling the Arkenstone from The Hobbit) and a mysterious clue to a cure. Sunday to Monday (27-28 January) With the celebration over, the fans return to their respective faction HQs and, over the next couple of days, say goodbye to one another and head home. Behind the Scenes War 14 proved contentious, largely because of mistiming, miscommunication, and differing expectations. The following section includes some analysis of the problems and their cause. Statistics In all, there were 40 people who signed up to play in War 14, not counting the War Mistress. Collectively, there were 161 story posts, including those made by the War Mistress. Having said that, not all participants were equally active. It is true that posts were authored or co-authored by 31 different faction members plus the War Mistress. However, 9 people only authored (or co-authored) one post, and another 8 people co/authored either two or three posts. The bulk of the writing was therefore done by 14 people, including the War Mistress. The Cousins had three of these "active" writers (Cousin Tok, Arletta, and Cousin Shelley), while there were two in both the Knighties (Brooksie and Knightie Nat) and Vaqueras (Teri and Naia Zifu). Not surprisingly, therefore, these factions all played a prominent role in the war. The other "active" writers were in the Die-Hards (Greer Watson), NNP (Susan B.), Ravenettes (Alexander Braun), and Mercs (Laura Davies), plus the one Independent (Bonnie) and the War Mistress. Neither the Rat-Pack nor the Perks had a player able to devote the necessary time to write with this level of frequency; and, as a result, those factions inevitably played a minor role in War 14. Pseudonyms Used by the War Mistress Towards the end of the war, the War Mistress proferred multiple pseudonyms: "Meg Dawson", "Alice White", and "Rapunzel Shorn(e)". Each in turn was listed on the War 14 wiki page that she was using for updates. However, the first two were almost immediately struck through, and left up in that way for only a short time before being deleted. The final pseudonym remained up for about a week before it, too, was deleted. The War Mistress later explainedThe explanation of the three pseudonyms was supplied by the War Mistress in an e-mail to Greer Watson, dated 2 February 2013. that the first two pseudonyms were an in-joke related to the television series Leverage, intended to amuse a couple of players whom she knew to be fans of that show. "Rapunzel Shorne", on the other hand, was an attempt to mollify the players by suggesting that the War Mistress's prestige and dignity should be stripped (or shorn) from her. In the end, the War Mistress deleted all pseudonyms and decided to remain anonymous. References Category: FK Wars